€41m natural gas plan for Patras, Pyrgos, Agrinio

The Region of Western Greece presented, according to a report by Patris, the area’s strategic energy transition plan, which provides for the expansion of the natural gas network in Patras, Pyrgos and Agrinio. The official presentation of the plan was scheduled to take place on the afternoon of Wednesday 16 September 2026, at 18:30, at the Technical Chamber of Western Greece in Patras. The project’s total budget, as stated in the plan, amounts to €41 million, with the next implementation phase already under way. The report describing the plan and the scheduled event was published on the morning of the same day, before the presentation’s scheduled time, so it concerns the announcement and the scheduling rather than whatever may have been said later at the event.

The expansion of the natural gas network in Western Greece is part of a wider trend of energy projects under way in various parts of the country, with similar natural gas network projects also under way in Kavala. The shift towards natural gas as a transitional fuel is part of the broader energy transition planning that regions outside the major urban centres are trying to implement, where the natural gas network has traditionally had more limited penetration compared with Attica or Thessaloniki. Western Greece, with three of its largest cities, Patras, Pyrgos and Agrinio, included in the plan, seeks to join this trend through an infrastructure project with a budget of tens of millions of euros, covering three different regional units.

As part of the presentation, Deputy Regional Governor Fokion Zaimis requested that the natural gas network also be extended to Aigio and Kalavryta, areas not included in the current phase of the plan. The Western Greece Development Institute (INADE), a body involved in planning the area’s development initiatives, also took part in organising the event. Mr Zaimis’s proposal highlights local officials’ interest in broadening the network’s geographical coverage beyond the three cities already included in the plan, particularly in areas of Achaia that remain outside the initial planning despite their proximity to Patras.

The report does not state a specific completion date for the network expansion project in Patras, Pyrgos and Agrinio, nor the number of households expected to be connected or the name of a funding programme. The next implementation phase is described as already under way, without clarifying its completion timeline. It remains to be seen whether the deputy regional governor’s request to extend to Aigio and Kalavryta will be included in a later planning phase, as well as exactly what was said at Wednesday afternoon’s presentation at the Technical Chamber of Western Greece. Further details on the progress of similar projects in other parts of the country are available in the network’s economy section.